University of Houston Athletics
Softball Slides into C-USA Action
3/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Houston at Southern Miss Notes (PDF)
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March 9, 2007
HOUSTON - The University of Houston softball team moves into Conference USA action with a trip to Southern Miss this weekend. The Cougars open the three-game set against the Golden Eagles with a doubleheader Saturday at 1pm. The series concludes with a Sunday single-game at 1pm.
Houston (17-9, 0-0 C-USA) has won 10 of its last 13 games. Eight of the Cougars nine losses this season have come to Top 25 opponents.
"We played this type of schedule as a gage to see where we're at," head coach Kyla Holas said. "The team knows that they can hang with anyone in the nation. We need to take that same type of intensity into our conference play this weekend."
Houston renews its longest rivalry this weekend with conference foe Southern Miss. The Cougars hold a 15-11 series advantage, including taking four of five meetings last season.
In an elimination game at the Conference USA Tournament, Houston stormed past Southern Miss 7-1 as Candi Kloecker and Crystal Briscoe combined for a one-hitter. Laura Durham and Laurie Wagner provided back-to-back homers in the fifth inning. The Cougars also swept the regular season series in Houston last season.
Angel Shamblin, a two-time Conference USA Pitcher of the Week, headlines the league with 10 wins and is second with a 1.03 ERA. She also is second-best, racking up 118 strikeouts in 95.0 innings of work. The Florida native recently had a scoreless inning streak come to a close at 37.1 against No. 4 Texas A&M (March 7). Opponents are hitting .168 against Shamblin.
Barbie Love is starting to emerge and is coming off a quality start against No. 4 Texas A&M (March 7). She was the tough-luck loser, giving up two earned runs and matched a career-best nine Ks against the Aggies. It was the first runs allowed by Love since the opening weekend of the season against Ole Miss (Feb. 10), a stretch of 16.1 innings over five appearances.
Carla Kennimer has won 11 of her last 12 decisions after taking the loss in the 2006 season opener against No. 19 Florida (Feb. 10, 2006). The southpaw is 3-0 with a 1.68 ERA this season. She tossed 2.1 innings of no-hit relief against Utah Valley State (March 3) and registered a 2-0 weekend at the Crowne Plaza Classic (Feb. 15-18).
On offense, Holas starts six sophomores and each player brings a unique talent to the Cougar lineup. Below is a glance at each piece.
Jessica Valis and Katie Bush are the slappers. Valis has hit safely in 19 of 25 games this season and in 40 of her last 50 outings dating back to last season. The Shiner native paces the squad with 32 hits.
Bush has tallied a hit in 12 of her last 15 appearances. She headlines the Cougars with a .366 batting average. The Brenham native has also used her strong arm from the outfield to gun down three runners at the plate, including one in the fifth inning against Utah Valley State (March 2).
Elaina Nordstrom is continuing her climb out of an early season slump and is second on C-USA drawing 16 walks. She shares the team lead with three home runs and 12 RBIs. The California native has reached base in 77 of her 88 career games, including 21 of 25 outings this season.
Christa Raley provided a three-run walk-off home run against Ole Miss (Feb. 9). She has a knack for getting on-base by any means necessary and has reached base in 13 of her last 14 games. Raley has drawn seven walks in addition to getting hit-by-a-pitch eight times this season. The La Porte native already holds the program record and has been hit-by-a-pitch 18 times in her career.
Laurie Wagner has already racked up12 RBIs after producing 24 RBIs in her freshman campaign. The Houston native provided a two-out, two-run double in the first inning against No. 11 Michigan (Feb. 11) that ended up being the game-winning hit. Wagner also ripped a two-run home run against Utah Valley State (March 3) and has reached base in five of her last eight games.
Haley Valis has produced in key situations this season, including a .316 batting average with runners in scoring position. The Shiner native provided a solo home run in the sixth inning of a 3-3 game against New Mexico State (Feb. 25). Valis is one of three Cougars who have successfully advanced runners at a .500 percentage.
All three games of the series from Hattiesburg will have live stats on UHCougars.com and a webcast provided by the USM ISP Sports Network.
